The Only Things that Touch
by Narnvaire
Summary: Giselle learns that lips aren't the only things that touch....


Anger was an emotion that, until meeting Robert, Giselle hadn't encountered. Her dear, sweet one true … er… what was the word for it here? Oh, yes. Fiance. Her one dear, sweet one true fiance had brought that and a number of fascinating new experiences and emotions into her life. She was, at this point, feeling another emotion, almost like anger but not quite….

Frustration.

She sat clad in a comfy set of periwinkle pajamas on Robert's couch – their couch, she mentally corrected herself – staring at the book currently in front of her: Dr. Timothy Edward's Complete Guide to Marital Bliss. All around her, similar books bearing titles like, Don't You Dare Get Married Until You Read This Book! and The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Perfect Marriage, had fallen carelessly to the floor. With a deep sigh, the almost-princess let Dr. Edward's book join them.

Giselle had been perplexed the night before when Morgan had declined her offer to go to the park because she was busy studying. Morgan had just smiled and patiently explained to her soon-to-be stepmother that when someone wanted to be good at something they had to practice or, in this case, study. This was a foreign concept, as in **Andalusia**, Giselle had been naturally good at everything. That night, though, as she lie on the wonderfully comfortable guest bed, her mind had begun to wander. She did have an awful lot of time during the day, when Robert was at work and while Morgan was at school. Studying to become a good wife in the still very strange land called New York City seemed a good solution to her daytime boredom.

And so, thanks to the checking account Robert had generously set up for her, she had found her way one sunny afternnoon to a quant little bookstore. She puchased, much to the cashier's delight, 13 books on cooking, cleaning, the city, and, of course, marriage.

While the information in all of these volumes was wonderful and very insightful, it also left Giselle, well, frustrated, and more than a little bit confused. All of them, each and every one, talked about something called "sex."

Sex, from what she could gather, was something that a couple "had" together. According to the Idiot's Guide, men cared a very lot about having sex and if the sex was not pleasant or frequent, the entire marriage was at risk! That was something that she would not chance, not with her Robert.

Unfortunately, while the books all mentioned having sex none of them actually explained how to go about doing so. And so, Giselle sat in the living room, glaring at the pile of useless books on the floor. Until, that is, she had an idea.

When Giselle had first arrived and been rescued by Robert, she had noticed he often sat at the large desk in his office, staring at a screen very much like the television she had come to know and love, but also very different. A funny object, covered in numbers, letters, and symbols she didn't understand was tied to this object. When Robert sat at it, the screen seemed to come to life with information. He had called the device a computer and he was using the internet. He had laughed, then, telling her that the internet had everything on it – you could find prophecies about the weather, or go shopping (although, Giselle couldn't really see the pleasure in shopping in front of the computer when you could have a "girl's day" like she and Morgan now so often did), or well, just about anything. She was certain the internet would be able to explain what sex was.

Twenty minutes later, after a bit of poking and tentative searching, Giselle was able to manuevar, with relative ease, around the world wide web.

"Oh." Her eyes widened at the search results. "Oh… my. But I thought lips were the only thing that touched…"

Her brow furrowed, she leaned forward and prepared herself for a long afternoon of studying.

******************************************************************************

"Giselle?" Robert called, putting his briefcase down and taking off his jacket.

When there was no answer, he shrugged to himself and went to the closet to hang up his coat. She was probably distracted by the television again, or worse yet… she found where he hid his credit card. Robert swallowed hard. Quickly, he made his way to the living room and, ever-so-carefully lifted up a small antique clock. There, where he'd slipped it a week ago after he'd received the call from his credit card company questioning a list of very strange and uncharacteristic purchases, was his credit card.

He was distracted from his revere by a loud thump in the study. Brow creasing, he made his way to the source of the noise.

"Giselle, are you allright?" He stopped in the doorway, a quizical look on his face.

On the floor of his study lay Giselle, surrounded by books, blushing deeply. She had been giggling when he entered but it stopped as soon as he spoke.

"Oh, Robert! You're home early!"

Robert grinned. "Is that a bad thing?"

Giselle hurriedly got to her feet. "No, of course not! I was… studying."

Robert repressed a laugh. "Really? And what were you…." His voice trailed off.

He had been leaning down to look at the books Giselle had scattered and his eyes widened when he saw, in bright pink letters, The Cosmo Kama Sutra. "What… er… you were… studying?"

Giselle nodded excitedly. "Oh, yes, Robert! I so want to be a good wife for you and so I thought that I should learn more about what wives in New York do. The internet was very helpful." She nodded sagely, her brow heavy with the wisdom of her adventure.

"What wives do… internet…" Automatically, he turned to face the computer screen and then, even more quickly, turned away, a deep crimson rising on his cheeks. "Giselle.. you can't look at stuff like that… it's… it's.. not good!"

Giselle's forehead wrinkled. "But the Idiot's Guide said that men like this and I'm not an idiot and…" Her rambling evolved into an intense pout and she began pacing. "You like sex, don't you, Robert?"

Robert felt his heart freeze, and then plummet toward his stomach. "Well, yes – I mean – of course, I like… not the point…"

Giselle grinned and, swiftly, dropped down to pick up a book. The edges, Robert noted, were covered in a rainbow of post-it notes.

"I think we should try this one, it looks most interesting." She had opened to a page showing a couple engaged in a rather impressive bit of acrobatics that, had he been in his physical prime even, would have been very near impossible to achieve.

"No, Giselle… that's…" he stuttered.

She wasn't phased. "Oh, or this one! It's called," she paused to read, "-the leapfrog! Isn't that darling?"

"Giselle, really, we –" He began, backing out of the room.

Giselle scooped up several more of her books and followed.

"What about this one, Robert? Robert?"


End file.
